Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1887-06-08
THE DIGGER INDIANS,
A Hunters Experience with Them.
Their Peculiar Traits.
Especial Correspondence


CHICAGO, June l.
In the rotunda Of the Sherman house the
| other evening veteran Rocky mountain
| hunter was entertaining group of CONNER
clal men with stories of adventures on the
plains and mountain Businesses "By the
| way, boys, did you ever hear tell of the Dig
ger 1ndianss Well, this is how l dropped
onto 'em. 1t was only month or two ago:
l had wounded a tough and rather lively
grizzly near the foot hills, and he was sneak
ing off at a pretty lively rate over the plains.
l started in full pursuit, calculating that
another shot at close range would fetch the
| critter, when, jumping upon one of the many
curious hillocks that conferred at one point. l
seemed to be tumbling through q huge in
verted basket, and all of a sudden found
myself doubled up in a heap in a pit
about six feet deep, describing a
circle OF perhaps seven feet, surrounded
by tribe Of three dirty Indian sauaws.
scantily clothed, four naked children and an
old Indian brave, sans war paint and any ex-
terror ornaments or clothing other than a
leather girth, to which was attached a rude
Ratchet and pipe. The inhabitants of the
subterranean abode were clearly taken by
surprise, and the women and children
screamed and shouted like so many Conan
ches on the warpath. The old Indian shook
O
grasping his tomahawk, and pronounced a
short Indian Grafton in deep cultural tones. !
extemporized eloquent gestures Indicating nv
deep chagrin at the situation in which very
unexpectedly found myself, pointed to barked
shlns and bruised arms, and with my ewes
firmly fixed upon the optics Of the Indian.
laid hold of sort Of rope ladder connecting
with the opening above, and crawled up side
ways, crab fashion, my face turned the while
to the occupants of the pit, and nimbly leaped
through the opening. I quickly perceived
that l was in the very heart of a subterranean
Digger Indian village, for on all sides the
basket like coverings of the pits were being
removed, and the occupants old and young.
great and small, clad in all degrees
of undress and flthiness, formed in
family groups about their respective homes
or lodges. There were in the village
perhaps thirty lodges, in the center of
an immense plain, mile or SO from the bot
tom OF the foot hills, on a small rise of
ground. The huts or pits were scattered
about irregularly and indiscriminately, and
not in the order which usually characterizes
the lodges Of Indian villages They were
simply pits or holes dug into the earth, from
four to seven feet In diameter, and usually
from four to six feet in depth. While many
OF these indian residences were purely and
SIMPLY circular pits, others were of a more
pretentiouS nature and further elaborated
one or more shafts or chambers
ON a level with the bottom Of the hut, dug |
into the sides of the room from four to six |
feet, with an arched covering OF earth two or |
three feet high-literal earth chambers, three |
feet square by five or six feet long Some of |
The huts had one chamber, and others two or |
more chambers, into which the adult MEM |
oers Of the Indian family crawled at night |
for rest and sleep. The tops Of these Indian |
abodes were covered with boughs Of trees SO |
arranged as to shed water and sprinkled with |
leaves and dried grass, usually covered with |
! thin layer OF soil Then in the center there
$ a narrow opening of eighteen inches to two |
'eet, closed by q remarkable willow or wicker
work covering, which Is lifted to one side
the occupants of the hut wish to
make their entrance or exit from the SUBJ |
crranean abode. L. G. Il.